Friday, October 2, 2009

I can hear my sister shudder from across the Atlantic...

but I've never been so happy to see and antibiotic in my life! I know, I know you homeopaths, antibiotics are not good and I'm not crazy about taking them, but there are some times when big guns are needed.

So yes, everyone, I'm better and thanks for your concern. Actually, I'm not a %100 yet, but I'm well on my way. School resumes on Monday, so I have the weekend yet to rest/force fluids, etc.Yes, yes, I have water, I've stockpiled it, I'm "all good." And will now be ready for future shut offs!

I was asked how far is the village tap, is the college close to a village, and "what does it look like for you to 'go to town?'"

The closest village tap, I'm guessing (since the water came on before I needed to go find one) is a quarter mile away. This is no big deal because I would not be hauling the 25 liters x 3 in a wheelbarrow the way I did when I was living with a family. I would only be hauling water for myself, which would amount to about 4 2-liters. Hey, I guess we do use the liter system in America! And I've been driving myself crazy trying to figure out the metric system!! I should have paid more attention in 3rd grade!

Is the college close to a village? Yes, the college is close to a village and the only "rural" one in my college's system. I think they have six campuses. (I'm not supposed to name exactly where I am publicly, but if you don't know exactly where I am and would like to, shoot me an email at karenkaye789@yahoo.com. I can tell family and friends where I am, just not on a blog post.)

I will be working both with the college and a primary school from the village. I'm way psyched!

And to go to town, I must take a "taxi," which is a passenger van that runs regularly from the college to town. Although I have other shopping towns south of me, I keep going to Vryburg b/c that is where I know where things are, what I can get, etc. My kombi (what we call the taxis) ride takes 30-40 minutes. Once I depart from the taxi rank in Vryburg, I go about my errands, which usually consist of a trip to the post office, a trip to the bookstore, a trip to Mr. Price Home (Mr. Price is a version of Target in South Africa), and a trip to the grocery (the most important).

Many of you know that I lost my car in 2005 and didn't bother to replace it, as I happily live in a pedestrian community! Go Highlands! So I've gotten quite used to packing groceries around and using public transportation at the same time. I do, however, tend to suffer from "my eyes are bigger than what my arms can carry" and I usually carry my stuff home loaded down like a pack mule.

Yesterday was no exception, and gratefully, there was a band of college girls congregating at the site my kombi dropped me. They cheerfully helped me home and I was very grateful.

Much love, k

As always, Peace Corps is in no way connected to or supportive of anything posted here.

3 comments:

I was getting a bit worried, so decided to check out the phone cards and such. After spending about an hour, I have purchased one. But alas after all the messages on the phone, I finally got "busy system, please try again". Then my computer came though with your blog. I will try the phone again later.

My neighbor has the alum plant you speak about in the next blog.

and I for one, sorry Kim, am so glad you got the antibotics. I was ready to fly to Africa to take care of you. I know where you are!! But on the map, doesn't look like much. Have you checked out the Taung skeleton yet?